I'm baaaaack! D

The following takes place right before season 2. Events do not occur in real time.

PS: I do not own that theme song from the movie Flashdance (don't know the title).

A DAY IN THE LIFEThe Beatles

Chapter 6 – Keep Your Distance

Keep Your Distance – Starring Kim Raver as Susan Dailey

MICHELLE

Mmm… He's so hot.

I curled up in my bed and smiled. What was better than spending the day in bed while dreaming of so hot and so wonderful (but so out of my reach) boss?

Time to wake up Michelle.

'Not yet…'

Time to wake up Michelle.

'Noooooooooooooooooooooo.'

Time to wake up Michelle.

'Argh. Fine.'

I stumbled out of bed and grabbed my watch.

Ooh… What a beautiful sunny day!

I opened the window, letting the soft sunlight into my bedroom. "Good Morning America! Wow! Look at the weather! It's nice and sunny!" I looked at my watch. "It's presently ten before six and…"

Uh oh.

Ten before six. As in five fifty. As in five-five-zero. As in ten minutes before my start time at work. As in WHAT THE HELL AM I STILL DOING HERE?

I knew it! I shouldn't have watched Sex and the City last night!

I looked at my alarm clock. It wasn't ticking anymore.

Damn.

Suddenly filled with a sense of urgency, I ran to the bathroom and grabbed my work clothes draped neatly on a hanger.

Oh no, oh no… Mason is going to kill me! I'm going to get fired, they're going to send me back to division, I'm going to have to work with Carrie again… OH NO GOD, PLEASE! Not Carrie!

Okay, maybe I was getting a little ahead of myself. After all, it was my first time. They couldn't do much to me, could they?

Fine, I won't get fired but everybody is going to look at me weird, Tony is going to be so disappointed in me…

Tony.

For seven months I had been pining for him. SEVEN MONTHS, PEOPLE! And not once did he return my feelings.

Okay, okay, we talked a lot. We were friends. Good friends even. We often worked together. We went for coffee. Once. And it was because it was midnight and we had this huge assignment to finish for the next day and we were both about to drop to the floor. But we were alone in the office. That's a start, no?

I should have jumped him when I got a chance.

'Haha, very funny.' I wanted him BAD but I would never take advantage of him (or would I? Hee hee…)

Finally dressed after what seemed like a very large amount of time, I checked myself in the mirror one last time and slipped out the apartment, not bothering to grab any breakfast.

Too bad for you. You should have woken up earlier.

Once in my car, everything seemed to turn from bad to worse. And from worse to the worst possible.

At first, it was stupid things like I shut the door on the seat buckle. Then, I turned on the radio and they played a stupid, catchy song I hated. And THEN, there was a traffic jam. Right in front of my garage. In front of my apartment that's in the middle of NOWHERE. Turned out some lady left her car parked in the middle of the street to go and get one of her daughters she forgot at the home (she had five).

When it finally cleared, I realised I needed to get gas or I would stop in the middle of nowhere. So I went. But, when it was time to pay, the guy decided to go the bathroom. I don't really know what he did there (and I don't want to know) but I know that when he came back, he was flushed and had this very big smile. The guy behind me gave him the thumbs up.

Yeah, thanks a lot Jorge, I thought while paying. But, next time, make sure it isn't me you're leaving there, hanging, while you go satisfy your 'needs'.

Ugh. Oh well, I guess we all went through that (not that I ever remember going through that).

Anyways, after paying, I went back into my car and headed for work. I thought that was just about all that could go wrong for me today.

Wrong! Wrong, wrong, wrong, I have never been so wrong in my life! It all went well until I arrived at the CTU parking lot. Jacob, the parking guard, smiled at me.

"Sleep late?"

I rolled my eyes. "You have no idea." I started reaching for my purse when I realised… I left it at home.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Jacob didn't seem to notice my stricken expression. "So I need your card…" He looked up from his computer. "Ms. Dessler?"

"ARGH!" I hit my head against steering wheel with despair. As for Jacob, he looked positively traumatised.

Why me? WHY ME? Am I not late enough already?

I leaned my head against the seat and threw a weary glance to Jacob. "I forgot it at home. I have to go get it." And, without another word, I left the parking lot, for the first time feeling desperate about leaving CTU to come back home.

TONY

So much for that 'good feeling'.

When I woke up that morning, I had had a good feeling about today. Something good was going to happen. Somehow, I felt… happy about going to work. Which was saying a lot really because I never feel happy about going to work. Don't get me wrong, I love my job; it just doesn't give me happiness. There are a lot of things I loved or that I used to love but that didn't give me any happiness. Cigarettes (I smoked for five years). My grandmother (God, she didn't not make me happy; she made me miserable. But, for an unknown reason, I still loved her). Nina. And, then, there were things I loved a lot and that made me so happy. Quiet evenings. My family (especially my little brother Vince and my little sis Bianca). A good book. Michelle Dessler.

Michelle. In the twenty-nine years I have been present on this planet, never have I seen such dreamy eyes. Such a delicate face. Such infatuating lips. Such beautiful curls. (Actually, there was this one girl in ninth grade, Isabel. The only difference was that, one, she was blond and, two, when I pulled one of her curls, she slapped me. I don't think Michelle would slap me if I pulled one of her curls. Would she?) I was in love and hating it. That 'can't eat, can't sleep, always day-dreaming and staring at her' kind of love. This was very bad. Number one: we worked at the same place. Number two: she worked for me. Number three: she didn't feel the same way I did.

Okay, I had no proof of number three. But if it wasn't true and she actually was passionately in love with me, shouldn't she be jumping around, shouting her adoration for me?

Uh, no.

And if she did love me, what would happen then?

Anyways, back to that morning and that 'good feeling'. You know, when you're in high school and you're crazy in love with this very cute red-head that you get to see once a week in Social Studies? You go crazy every time it's Social Studies. You actually LOOK FORWARD to going to school and sitting through Mrs. Carol's boring course and her boring exercises and getting reprimanded because you aren't paying attention for the fifth time in the SAME COURSE. And all that because you get seventy-five minutes to stare at Gretchen Miller and that maybe, MAYBE today she'll notice you and say hi. Crazy, no?

Well. That was exactly how I felt. Ridiculous. I can see the headlines already in the LA times.

Counter Terrorist Unit, Second in Command: High School Crush on one of his Employees!

Pathetic. Pathetic, pathetic, pathetic. God, so pathetic.

Still, no matter how pathetic I felt, I still was in love and waiting for a miracle today.

Oh maybe Michelle will smile at me today. Maybe she'll say hi. Maybe we'll go out for coffee again.

I was waiting for all of those things and, at the same time, feared them.

I entered CTU a whole ten minutes early waiting to see her…

One minute.

Two minutes.

Three minutes.

Five minutes.

Ten minutes.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty minutes. (George just called us in for a meeting)

Thirty three minutes twenty five seconds. (I just sat down in a chair)

And, while George started talking about something (I'll be honest: I don't really remember what he said), it dawned on me. Maybe, MAYBE today she wasn't coming.

Great. Just great.

And, then, just when I stopped sulking and started concentrating on George's speech, she came in. So breathtakingly beautiful. And, as luck would have it, the only seat left was the one next to me. She smiled at me and whispered a small hi before sitting down.

Thank you, God, for listening to my prayers. I promise I will clean up my office, stop rolling my eyes behind my superiors' back, be nicer to Abuela, become a vege…

"Michelle. I suppose you have a good excuse about being late."

She stiffened. "It… It was traffic, Mr. Mason. I'm very sorry."

GEORGE

"It… It was traffic, Mr. Mason. I'm very sorry."

As if.

"Traffic. I see."

She saw I didn't really believe her and blushed a bit. I continued, suddenly very bored.

"It's your first time Michelle. I know it isn't one of your habits so I'll let it go."

Bla bla bla. Same old, same old. There's always someone late. One day it's Janet, the other it's Michelle, then it's Tony… Not that I'd ever seen him late but that was an unnecessary detail.

"Alright people. Meeting dismissed."

People started gathering their things and leaving the conference room. I cleared my throat.

"Janet. I'd like to see you."

Janet looked at me obnoxiously, chewing gum very loudly. She walked towards me and sighed in a very exaggerated manner.

"Yeah?"

"You're fired."

She obviously wasn't expecting that. "Uh excuse me?"

"You heard me: you're fired."

"B-but w…"

"First of all, keeping that gum in your mouth is not going to help your chances with your job."

She stopped chewing for a minute then grabbed her gum from her mouth and stuck it under her shoe.

Oh for god's sake.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay. Let's just say that's a bit better. So, this is the problem: you've been late a total of twenty times this month. Tell me Janet, how many days do you work a month?"

"Twenty one sir."

"Wow! That makes a total of, let me see, one day you have been on time. Congratulations! And it wasn't the five minute, traffic delay. It was the whole 'I want to make a big entrance so I'll arrive one hour later after my start time while wearing my mini skirts and chewing gum'. Mini skirts and gum are against CTU etiquette, by the way."

"Is that all?"

"No. That is not all. I've been checking your work. Janet, it's BAD. I see you fooling around during work time and it shows on your assignments. I ask you to narrow a search to five, you enlarge it to fifty. There's a limit between being distracted and just plain not listening."

Janet looked at me, trying to get a way out of this. "But… Why didn't I get a warning or something?"

"You got thirteen warnings. Isn't that enough?"

That shut her up.

"And," I added. "You have quite an attitude. Janet, you look like a really sweet girl. Why are giving us this whole 'I don't give a shit' act?"

She glanced out the conference room window. After a while, she said, "I don't really like this job."

Excuse me?

"You what? Then why are you here?"

"Bah. Good money. Interesting stuff. Nice people. Hot guys."

Hot guys? Well, there's Joe, who isn't exactly 'hot stuff'. Then, there's Rick, old enough to be her grandfather. There's also Eugene, the janitor, who's almost young enough to be her son. I don't think she's talking about me so that leaves…

"Tony."

"What Tony?"

"You're working at CTU for Tony Almeida?"

Surely even Janet isn't that pathetic.

"No. Well, yes, maybe a bit. I mean, he's part of it. Really, it was my friend who went into computing science. I followed her and next thing you know, bang! I'm here. I don't hate the job, it's got its downs but also its ups. I just never thought I would be here."

"I see…"

"You know what? I think it's actually good I got fired. I mean, it isn't GOOD but maybe this is my wake-up call. This isn't at all where I want to be in five years."

The question just popped out of my mouth. "What did you want to become?"

"It's funny you ask. I never thought I would be talking about my ambitions with my uptight boss."

Uptight. Thanks a lot.

"Anyways. I wanted to become a dancer."

"You know what? I may be uptight and cranky but I am smart and I can imagine you as a dancer. Just as long as it isn't exotic…"

She laughed. "No. Not exotic. Hey, speaking of Tony, I find him hot and all but I'm not interested, you know. And, even if I was, I wouldn't have a chance in hell with him. Have you noticed how infatuated he is with Michelle Dessler?"

"I have for a while now."

"Do you think he'll ever snap out of it and ask her out?"

"You know it's against protocol."

She rolled her eyes. "Protocol. Right. As if anyone has ever followed it."

"I have."

"You and Tony are exceptions to the rule. And so are all those other division jerks." She paused. "Wait, didn't you work at division before, too?"

"Alright, enough. It isn't I'm not enjoying this conversation but I really got to go. I have work to do. You can go home now and try and figure out what you're going to do now. Come back Monday so I can fill your dismissal report."

"Okay. By the way, George…"

"Mr. Mason."

"I don't work for you anymore."

"Technically you are."

"Fine. By the way, Mr. Mason, you aren't such a bad guy once we get to know you. I'll see you Monday." She pinched my cheek and left the conference office, smiling cheekily.

Well. If that wasn't awkward…

But, really, I had enjoyed this little down-to-earth conversation I hadn't had for a while. I thought about how Janet had turned from harsh to friendly in mere seconds (even though that transformation had happened because I had fired her) and about her confession and her ambition to become a dancer. It also made me think about how much I hated my own job and that I certainly hadn't imagined I would end up here. Suddenly, my supposedly upcoming promotion that I had been waiting patiently for a long time didn't seem so appealing.

Weird. Who would have thought one of my employees would have made me realize it's maybe time for a change?

I thought of those night courses I always wanted to take. Maybe it wasn't too late.

Little did I know that, in less than 24 hours, I would be dead.

PAULA

What a feeling, oh what a feeling…

People often say I'm very kitschy. But, as I hummed the tune from Flashdance (I had rented it the day before), I didn't feel kitschy at all. When I called my mother yesterday and exclaimed 'Oh what a good movie Flashdance is', she said I lived in the past and that maybe I should get a boyfriend.

Right. A boyfriend.

I usually just shrug those comments off and tell myself maybe everyone else is too modern and I'm the only one who's still real.

My mother is always nagging me. Blame it on my big sisters: Gladys is married, has two kids and is a housewife and Alice, at her age, still lives at home with my mom and calls me every week to complain about an ex-boyfriend. If I have to be like one of them to get my mother's approval, well, I'm sorry but forget it. I'm perfectly content with my single status, my cozy apartment, my cat Rambo and my quiet evenings watching classic movies and reading steamy, romance books (I really cannot stand those bang-shabang stories.) And, though I'm new here, I like my job very much. It's really interesting even though my co-workers aren't very patient with me. I work very well but god am I slow! I'm very perfectionist actually.

As for men… No comment. My dad died in the Viet-Nam war before I was born. Gladys' husband is never there (I suspect he has a mistress but I have, of course, not told anything to Gladys). Alice changes boyfriend once a week (literally!). And, I… Well, I have had my share of boyfriends; in other words, one. One too many, actually.

To make a long story short, I live alone (except for Rambo), I try to stay away from my crazy mother and psychotic sisters as much as possible, I haven't had a relationship with anyone for five years and, honestly, I'm perfectly happy.

But, as I watch the scene in front of me, I can't help but feel a moment of loneliness. Maybe it is time to get a boyfriend. Or maybe it's just that I feel that Tony Almeida is the hottest guy on the planet and I'm insanely jealous of Michelle Dessler.

Yeah, I know, it seems weird hearing it from me. But, let's face it, the guy has got (or rather is) something and, no, I am not made of wood.

I don't want to ruin their love story or anything (though I doubt it'll go far, considering neither one of them has made the first step). I just wish there would be a hot guy who would drop from the sky and maybe show a bit of interest towards me (I highly doubt this is probable).

Right now, he's hunched over her computer and occasionally throws a 'casual' glance in her direction. As for her, she's trying to listen to what he's saying but it's obvious she wants to turn around and jump him on the spot.

Ah… True love… Isn't it wonderful?